Lucas barely spared Kira a glance. His face remained hard as stone as he sidestepped her, pushing past as if she were nothing but an annoying obstacle in his path. His eyes locked on mine instead, filled with concern.
“Hazel,” he said, his voice softer than I’d ever heard it before. He rushed toward me, his hands immediately checking me for injuries. “Are you hurt? What happened?”
The stark contrast between his coldness toward Kira and his tenderness toward me broke something inside me. The tears I’d been holding back spilled over before I could stop them. The sobs came from deep in my chest, ugly and raw.
“Hey, hey,” Lucas murmured, pulling me against his chest. “It’s okay. I’ve got you.”
His body stiffened as he turned toward Kira and Melanie, who stood watching us with identical expressions of shock and outrage.
“What did you two do to her?” His voice had transformed from gentle concern to pure fury in an instant.
